UVERworld: Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi

1. Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi

2. Taion

3. Halzion

Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi is UVERworld’s twelfth single, released on November 19th, 2008. It reached #1 on Oricon and has sold 177 290 copies. It is the first opening for the second season of Mobile Suit Gundam oo.

My favorite part of Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi (everlasting and fleeting sadness) has to be the blurred opening sequences. The vocal distortion, which appear only there, was great. But after that the song does disappoint, although I think it’s better than Gekidou and Just Break the Limit!. It seems slightly disorganized at certain points during the verses, but the chorus is pretty awesome in its own right.

Taion (body temperature) is an acoustic ballad, and TAKUYA∞ sounds thoroughly depressed. This song is a whole lot better than the A-Side, for the simple reason that it’s more structured, goes in one direction, and the vocal work is quite nice.

Halzion (a Philadelphia Daisy) opens in the same style as Taion, but then turns into UVERworld within a minute or so. The blast of instruments was slightly off, but after that, this song is pretty good and actually quite catchy. I dare say that, without that beginning, this song would be the best on this single.

UVERworld: Koishikute

1. Koishikute

2. Kokorozashi

3. Over the Stoic

Koishikute is UVERworld’s eleventh single, released on September 10th, 2008. 

Compared to their previous single, with the A-Sides Gekidou and Just Break the Limit!, Koishikute (as I yearn for you) is a more gentle ballad, and although I’m not a big fan of UVERworld ballads, this is a massive step up from their previous single. The verses are quite boring, and TAKUYA could’ve done better on the vocals, but the chorus features a really nice rock-ballad type arrangement which redeemed the song’s verses.

When the A-Side is a ballad, you’d usually expect a high-octane type of rock song (which often goes wrong), but here we have an exception. But with a title like Kokorozashi (last will), what more could you expect? Interestingly enough, this ballad is R&B flavored, and it’s pretty good. So the rapping vocals and the “everybody say yeah” repeated over ten times was annoying, but the rest of the song is pretty good. 

Over The Stoic is a short track, not even reaching three minutes, which features the high-octane one may have been looking for in the previous track. It’s a n instrumental of a previously released track (with some vocals toward the end), and I have to say, I really like it. Far better than Kokorozashi, and maybe even Koishikute.

UVERworld: Gekidou/Just Break the Limit!

1. Gekidou

2. Just Break the Limit!

3. Core Ability +81

Gekidou/Just Break the Limit! is UVERworld’s tenth single, released on June 11th, 2008. It reached #2 on Oricon and has sold 94 325 copies. Gekidou was used as the fourth opening theme for D.Gray-man.

Although Gekidou (agitation) may open with a really catchy acoustic guitar tune, the whole song degenerates when the lyrics and the first verse come in. That was an absolute turnoff. Especially how the song just goes higher, and higher, and never stops, instead of having a really great chorus.

Of the two A-Sides, I prefer Just Break the Limit! by far, even though it has that horrible title. It has its similarities with the previous track, but it’s a lot slower, more controlled, and sounds a lot more catchy. It’s a better example of what UVERworld does, whereas Gekidou really does sound like it was induced with something.

Core Ability +81 is a pretty different track after two stereotypical UVERworld songs, with some pretty neat techno influences. After a while, the whole thing becomes way too repetitive, and the weir